The RHCE exam

The RH300 course is informative and is a reasonable preparation for
the exam. However, there's a lot of information to cover, and while
the labs do a good job of illustrating most points, the presentation

The exam is specifically looking for debugging and deployment skills.

simply doesn't have enough time for full detail. The exam is
specifically looking for debugging and deployment skills that are hard
to present without giving away too much. Your experience will play
a large part in your success.

Unlike computer-administered exams you may have taken for other
certification programs, Red Hat follows a more practical path. Their
goal is to verify not only that you are familiar with concepts and
procedures, but that you are adept at handling a real Red Hat Linux
system. The full-day exam allows no notes or other reference material,
and is presented in three separate parts:

Debugging, 2.5 hours. This part of the exam tests
your ability to debug, repair, and reconfigure a problematic Linux
system. As mentioned earlier, it is difficult to teach this skill, so
any experience you have with repairing Linux problems will help you.
Note that the problems that you face on the exam can be solved using
the information from the class, so this is a good test of your ability
to apply that information. However, don't let the exam be the forum
for your first experience with a Linux boot failure!

Written Exam, 1.0 hours. This portion of the exam
is very similar to computer-administered multiple-choice exams you may
have taken for LPI, MCSE, or other programs. The test consists of 50
questions and few surprises. We were told that most students find
this portion of the exam the easiest, and it was. Items covered
included facts about configuration techniques, particular files, the
function of various services, etc. For those who study the course material
or who are experienced with Linux system administration, this part of
the exam should be easy.

Server Install and Network Services Setup, 2.5
hours. This part of the exam required that students prepare a bare
system for use as a production server. Detailed requirements were
provided for a typical business situation, and students had to
translate them into working deployed resources. Items on the
requirements list included accounts management, shared services
configuration, security setup, and custom kernel setup. Attention to
detail is important in this portion of the exam and I confess that I
used every minute of the time I was allotted.

Each of the three segments is worth 100 points and requires a
minimum score of 50. This minimum is particularly significant on the
debugging portion of the exam, where a few failures can cause you to
fail the entire exam. You must have at least 240 points (80%) at the
end of all three segments to receive the RHCE certificate.
Unfortunately, results are tabulated after you leave, meaning that
you'll have some time to wait for your status. My results took over
two weeks to arrive via e-mail, and my printed certificate took even
longer.

If you think you'd like to try your luck with the RHCE exam without
the training, read through the exam prep guide first. If you're comfortable with everything you see there and can function without documentation, you're a likely
candidate.

Was it worth it? In the last section, I'll offer my impressions and some tips on taking the exam.